Kevin Whately - How we did it

Wealthy Merchant

Great-great-great-great-grandfather: Thomas Whately

Step 1

After examining some of his mother's side of the family, Kevin turned his attention to his paternal line and the Whately family. To start his investigation he met another family member, his brother Frank, at Oriel College Oxford. Kevin knew that for generations many Whately men had been clergymen who studied at Oxford. The clergyman Kevin knew most about was his great-great-grandfather, Archbishop Richard Whately. Frank took him to see a stained glass window in the college that commemorated the archbishop's life. Kevin was keen to know how many more Whatelys had been clergymen.

Step 2

Step 3

On the family tree, Kevin saw that Thomas's father was based in Bromley-by-Bow, which suggested Thomas might have been a city merchant. So he went to visit the Mercers' Company, a medieval livery company, or trade guild, of the City. The archivist revealed an apprenticeship record that showed Thomas had been apprenticed to someone in the ‘Levant Company'. Kevin discovered that the Levant Company was set up to enable trade in Syria, Palestine and Turkey. At the time such traders had been known as turkey merchants. Thomas had not been trading in birds, but in exotic goods!

Step 4

The Mercers' archivist suggested Kevin go to The National Archives, which holds records of the Levant Company. He learned that when apprentices like young Thomas went to Syria in the early 1700s, they had to bargain with Syrian merchants for silk and other exotic goods. Negotiations could take months. Kevin found company records showing that Thomas had been treasurer for the company in Aleppo in 1718; 10 years after his apprenticeship had ended. But by 1723, he had disappeared from the company's records. Once Thomas had made good contacts, it was likely he would have established himself as an importer back in Britain.

Step 5

Step 6

Kevin met the curator of the Bank of England museum. He showed Kevin Bank of England records, including the minute book of the Court of Directors and the Bank of England. Thomas appeared for the first time in 1741 as a member of the Court of Directors. We discovered that in order to become a director, Thomas would have been elected by the proprietors and would also have bought the equivalent of £200,000 worth of bank stock. Kevin saw Thomas's bank account, and found out that he had another connection to the bank. He was married to a Mary Thompson, whose sister Elizabeth was married to the governor of the Bank of England.

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